The total catch of Icelandic vessels in 2020 was 1,021 thousand tonnes which is 2.5% less than in 2019. The first sale value of catch increased by 2.3% between years and amounted to 148 billion ISK in 2020.
Of demersal species the catch was 463 thousand tonnes which is 3.6% less than in 2019. First sale value of the demersal catch was 113.4 billion ISK which is 1% higher than in 2019. Cod was the main species in 2020 with half of the total catch value. Cod catch was 277 thousand tonnes with a value of 76 billion ISK.
Catch of pelagic species was 529 thousand tonnes in 2020, which is about 1% less catch than in 2019. Of pelagic species the catch of blue whiting was highest, about 244 thousand tonnes. The first sale value of pelagic species consisted of mackerel, about 10 billion ISK, blue whiting (7 billion ISK) and herring (6.8 billion ISK).
| Catch volume and value of catch for major species 2019-2020 | ||||||
| Catch | Value of catch | |||||
| 2019 | 2020 | Diff. % 2019-20 | 2019 | 2020 | Diff. % 2019-20 | |
| Tonnes | Billion ISK | |||||
| Total | 1,047,568 | 1,021,020 | -2.5 | 145,076 | 148,341 | 2.3 |
| Demersal catch | 480,956 | 463,632 | -3.6 | 112,310 | 113,417 | 1.0 |
| Cod | 272,989 | 277,511 | 1.7 | 69,950 | 75,860 | 8.4 |
| Haddock | 57,747 | 54,214 | -6.1 | 14,429 | 13,259 | -8.1 |
| Saithe | 64,681 | 50,450 | -22.0 | 10,430 | 7,651 | -26.6 |
| Redfish | 53,380 | 51,947 | -2.7 | 12,110 | 12,176 | 0.5 |
| Flatfish catch | 22,188 | 22,993 | 3.6 | 9,318 | 9,872 | 5.9 |
| Greenland halibut | 12,044 | 12,543 | 4.1 | 6,511 | 6,980 | 7.2 |
| Plaice | 6,828 | 7,509 | 10.0 | 1,890 | 2,137 | 13.1 |
| Pelagic catch | 534,373 | 529,423 | -0.9 | 21,578 | 23,803 | 10.3 |
| Herring | 30,041 | 35,851 | 19.3 | 1,171 | 1,752 | 49.6 |
| Norwegian spring-spawning herring | 107,889 | 98,312 | -8.9 | 4,735 | 5,053 | 6.7 |
| Capelin | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | - |
| Capelin roe | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | - |
| Blue whiting | 268,357 | 243,725 | -9.2 | 7,181 | 7,038 | -2.0 |
| Atlantic mackerel | 128,084 | 151,534 | 18.3 | 8,491 | 9,960 | 17.3 |
| Shellfish catch | 10,051 | 4,918 | -51.1 | 1,870 | 1,249 | -33.2 |
| Lobster | 259 | 194 | -25.1 | 267 | 206 | -22.8 |
| Shrimp | 2,920 | 3,127 | 7.1 | 1,053 | 885 | -15.9 |
| Miscellaneous | 4 | 5 | 25.0 | 0 | 0 | - |